(Students from P.S. 627 Brighter Choice in Brooklyn take part in NIA’s Read Out Loud Campaign. Photo Credit: NIA Brooklyn)

National Grid sponsored NIA Community Services Network’s Read Out Loud Campaign with a $2,500 grant from our Social Impact Team, helping provide over 5,000 students with access to great books and access to after school libraries for extra hours of reading time, which is key to the success and emotional wellness for students. For more than 10 years, NIA, a nonprofit organization, has been supporting literacy in schools in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

The virtual Read Out Loud event focusing on climate change was a big hit at P.S. 627 Brighter Choice in Brooklyn. Author Sarah Burns, a former National Grid employee, joined by video to read her book A look into Tomorrow to 20 third to fifth grade students. The book introduces children to climate change and the impact it has on the environment and serves to spark an interest in STEM-related fields.  Our donation of 40 kits to the school included Sarah’s book, a National Grid folder and coloring book.

After the reading, the inquisitive students took part in a robust discussion with Sarah about clean energy actions they are already taking and how they can do more now and in the future. The students drew pictures of their own renewable energy world, inspired by illustrations in the book.

“This was such an inspiring event not only for the students, but for me as well”, said Asiyah Piper, of the NYC Customer & Community Engagement team. “To see them engaged and hear what they’re doing now to reduce their carbon footprint and what they plan to do in moving towards a clean energy future was exciting. They are clearly eager to make a difference and go greener. We’re proud to be one of the sponsors supporting NIA Brooklyn, inspiring our youth through Project C.”

The students were thrilled with the books, looking forward to bringing them home to continue the conversation with family and friends.

NIA’s Read Out Loud program started with World Read Aloud Day on February 2 and ended on Read Across America Day on March 2.  For more information on the program, visit https://www.niabklyn.org/read-out-loud

About National Grid

National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy future — transforming our networks with more reliable and resilient energy solutions to meet state climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.